Last legislative session, Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill from state Rep. Chris Pringle (R-Mobile) that charges fentanyl dealers with manslaughter if the user dies. But the bill is effectively unenforceable, and Pringle will have to try again to get it passed during the session.
The full Congress already agreed to the bill last year, and some might expect passing it this year would be a mere formality.
But when Pringle voiced his dissent before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, he said his bill contained one key word, “knowingly,” that Congress had sought to add to the bill last session. It had fallen out.
U.S. Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, caught on to the change and asked Pringle about it.
“The way this bill is currently written, it complies with federal law,” Pringle said. “If you use the word 'knowingly,' I'm not a lawyer, but you can arrest all the drug dealers. All a drug dealer has to say is, 'I didn't know there was fentanyl in it.' We can never prosecute drug dealers because we just say, 'No, I'm innocent.'
“That's the burden we carry in every prosecution, every criminal charge that comes before the court,” England responded. “And the reason the word 'knowingly' is important is because not everyone is a drug dealer. Some people are addicted to a substance and are abusing the substance together. And , two people who are abusing that drug, one gives the drug to the other, both drug addicts, and that person could be charged with manslaughter.”
The UK insisted the bill should target drug dealers, but Mr Pringle further emphasized that the UK example of two drug addicts sharing drugs was an example of how someone could legally He said this is an example of how he should be charged with a crime.
“If two people are using drugs and one of them dies, can't the other person be prosecuted?” Pringle asked.
“We weren't. We're not,” England said. “In fact, we've created an exception so that people who are involved with someone who is overdosing can call the police to come help that person and avoid prosecuting them.” What your bill actually does is prevent someone from sitting there and watching someone else die because they don't want to be charged with manslaughter.”
Pringle and England also disagreed over whether adding the word “knowingly” would exempt drug traffickers under the law.
“The District Bar Association pointed out to me that the way this bill was written was in line with federal law and that it was ‘deliberately’ including problems with the bill. It made it impossible to prosecute people,” Pringle said.
England said, “That's not true.” “It is not true that a case cannot be prosecuted because there is a large amount of circumstantial evidence.”
Pringle reiterated that adding that language would allow drug dealers to say, “I didn't know there was fentanyl in it.”
“Do you know how many people are sitting in prison who said exactly what you just said?” England asked.
Despite lengthy debate over this change, the bill passed out of committee as submitted by Pringle. Pringle told England that if it wanted to amend the bill, it could later consult with local bar associations and have them approve the language.
